Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Mitsubishi Electric Corp and its North American affiliate Mitsubishi Electronics America, Inc. have provided venture capital funding to found a new Silicon Valley start-up company called VSIS, Inc. The new firm will address emerging systems-level applications requirements of North American customers. VSIS will provide systems design and development resources for Mitsubishi Electronics America's Electronic Device Group, as well as for other Mitsubishi Electric global companies. Specifically, VSIS will offer market evaluation services for advanced systems hardware and software product concepts, access available technology and manufacturing resources (both internal to Mitsubishi Electric and external) to develop and deliver products, and provide design services from concept and definition to system behavioral models for delivery of solutions. While VSIS will leverage manufacturing capabilities of Mitsubishi Electric, the company can also opt to employ local design and/or manufacturing services as needed to deliver on customer requirements. Current applications areas in which the company is focused include 3-D graphics; connectivity and networking; Java-enabled applications; network centric computing; MPEG-2 encoding/decoding; interactive television, CATV and satellite broadcasting; mobile navigation; and electronic commerce. "The system-on-a-chip technology originated with Mitsubishi in Japan; the systems marketing and applications expertise originated in the U.S. with Mitsubishi's Electronic Device Group. It was out of these two flows of activity that VSIS was formed. And out of VSIS will flow marketing-driven value-added development," said Yasutaka Horiba, president, CEO and chairman of VSIS. VSIS is managed by a board of directors with 100 percent of its stock owned by Mitsubishi Electronics America. The company employs several business models to create intellectual property (IP), business opportunities, end-products and bottom-line income. These business models include augmenting Mitsubishi Electric core technologies with internal R & D, codevelopment and strategic alliances, as well as whole or partial company acquisition, technology transfer and technology licensing. Bottom-line revenues come from marketing consultation, design and development work, technology licensing, royalties and manufacturing. The formation of VSIS is a part of Mitsubishi Electric's "transnational" business strategy, implemented by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation President Takashi Kitaoka.
Mitsubishi Funds Value-Added System Design Start-up
July 12, 1996